Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott is the Shadow Secretary of State for Health. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in 1987 general election, when she became the first Black Woman to have a seat in the House of Commons.

Recent ONS crime data statistics are an indictment of this Conservative Government’s policies when it comes to keeping our communities safe and secure, showing that police recorded crime is up 14%, the highest annual rise since 1992, with knife crime up by 21% and gun crime by 20%.

International students enrich us all and reducing their numbers makes us poorer writes Diane Abbott MP.

The Financial Times reported in January that “new visa rules [are being] blamed for fall in overseas students intake,” with the story reflecting that whilst currently Britain continues to be one of the most attractive destinations in the world for international students, latest recruitment figures show that we have seen a slowdown in recent years.

Notting Hill Carnival is an iconic, world-class celebration of Caribbean culture. This year thelargest street party in the world outside of Rio takes on a deeper significance. It takes place in the very community that has been devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire. Carnivalwill pay respect to those who have died with a minute’s silence at 3pm this Sunday and Monday. Organisersare also encouraging all attending to show their support and pay their respects by wearing ‘Green for Grenfell’.

Since the terrible fire that consumed Grenfell Tower in North Kensington there has been much discussion about the cladding and details of the architecture. But we need to keep focussing on the people. This week I organised a meeting in Parliament for survivors of the tragic fire. Alongside me were my colleagues the local Member of Parliament Emma Coad Dent, Labours Shadow Justice Secretary, Richard Burgon MP and David Lammy MP. Over one hundred and fifty people attended. There were: solicitors; legal advisors; support groups; families of survivors and dozens of survivors themselves.

I heard some incredibly tragic stories including a young woman and her daughter who had been on the twenty-first floor of Grenfell and had been amongst the last people to leave the building. On their way down they had to step over dying bodies. They were obviously still deeply shocked and upset by what they had endured. And her daughter had recently come around from a coma. The meeting, as a whole, was full of sad and traumatised people. Some were, understandably, very angry.

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Theresa May continues to make false promises on cutting net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’. The policy has been in place now for 7 years, and has spectacularly been missed every year.

Theresa May was the Home Secretary throughout the entire period. She couldn’t meet the target then and she won’t meet it in future. We learn from the ex-Chancellor George Osborne she is isolated in the Cabinet on this. “None of its senior members supports the pledge in private and all would be glad to see the back of something that has caused the Conservative Party such public grief,” he wrote in the London Evening Standard.

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As well as holding back investment, living standards and growth, it’s important to also point out that the Tories’ ideologically driven austerity also makes us all less safe.

One example of this is the cuts to our fire and rescue service.

While our firefighters do an amazing job, we have seen the axing of 10,000 jobs, record numbers of fire stations closed and cuts to equipment, meaning people are left running the service on a shoestring.

Such cuts are bound to have an impact on the ability of firefighters to do their jobs, which is consistently being undermined by cuts.

The government was supposed to produce a drugs strategy in 2016, but two weeks into April 2017 and still nothing. We see disturbing scenes of completely wasted people on our city streets, caught up in the latest drug craze ‘spice’. There can be no excuse for government inaction. Brexit should not be the only issue for Government and other policy areas cannot be completely neglected, especially ones that are literally a matter of life and death.

Who knows how bloody and messy the ‘war on drugs’ will get under President Trump. In general, in this country in recent years we have usually had a far more intelligent approach to drugs and drug-related crime. But the drugs barons never rest and the threat is constantly changing. Policy must be proactive and evidence-based.

Recorded drug-related crime is not rising in this country. Yet there were almost 150,000 drug offences committed last year in England and wales, so there is no room for complacency. Heroin, cocaine or crack cocaine addicts commit theft and robbery to feed their habits. Nearly all the most dangerous gangs in Britain are involved in the Class A drugs trade. The UK is also the EU’s largest market for ‘legal highs’.

As Mayor of London Sadiq Khan put it this week in response to the horrific Westminster attack, “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism. We stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life. We always have, and we always will.”

I was in lock down in Parliament for five hours and it was very frightening, especially as we all remember the 7/7 attacks in 2005.

What we saw in Westminster this week was an indiscriminate attack on innocent people going about their daily lives, taking no account of age, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion.

All our thoughts are with the victims of this outrage, their loved ones, families and friends.

The victims of this brutal and indiscriminate attack as innocent people walked across Westminister Bridge like millions before them included people of ten nationalities.

They include civilians and a police officer, Londoners and visitors.

Aimed at the heart of our democracy, this cowardly attack was also an attack on our freedom, and our values of justice and tolerance.

We also saw our emergency and public services at their best, acting promptly and decisively, working to keep us all safe and showing tremendous bravery. In their heroism they were joined by ordinary people who were passing by and helped the injured and traumatised.

We also salute the work of our NHS staff, including those from St Thomas’ Hospital who rushed out to help those in need.

The tragic death of PC Keith Palmer, a Metropolitan Police officer who was unarmed, reminds us all of how big a debt of gratitude we owe our police officers. He was tragically killed while performing his duties.